Lani Imre currently resides in Squamish B.C. but has divided her time between Baja California and various locations around British Columbia. Imre focused her studies on diverse forms of art education in Vancouver, Nelson, Halifax, Montreal and Berkeley. Her degrees include a diploma of Art from the Kootenay School of the Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia School of Art and Design University. Imre focuses her work on large-scale, mixed media paintings depicting an entourage of virtualized female characters and she also has an extensive background in sculptural ceramics, drawing, print-making and painting. Framed by her love of art, mountains and surfing, Imre successfully constructed a life in which she can balance love, work and play.

Paige Keith has been living in Whistler since the age of four. She started as a sketch artist and painter and as a teen received formal training at a two-week intensive Art Academy, which allowed her to find her own personal technique and passion. She is currently pursuing her Honours degree in Fine Art at the
University of Victoria.

The winners were chosen based on the quality of their body of work and criteria including the idea or intention behind the work, the effectiveness of the artistic practice, the impact the art has on those experiencing it, and the contribution the work makes to the development of the artist, the art form and the arts in general. The panel of jurors was made up of long-time professionals working in the field of fine art as artists, curators, instructors, gallery managers or consultants. When evaluating the applicants’ work, the jurors considered concept, caliber, clarity and focus, originality and vitality, artistic risk and quality of presentation. Community involvement in the arts was not necessary, but it was an asset.

“We are blessed with many wonderful and talented artists here in Whistler and in the Sea-to-Sky Corridor. Lani Imre and Paige Keith greatly deserve this award and congratulations for excelling in their field” said Joan Pitman, Chair of the Whistler Arts Council board of directors. “We are grateful to La Bocca Restaurant and the Arts and Culture Legacy Fund for providing the funding required offering these awards of excellence.” Pitman adds.

About the Whistler Arts Council
The Whistler Arts Council (WAC) has been integrating the arts into the daily life of Canada’s premier resort community since 1982. A respected community stakeholder, this registered charity leverages strategic government and business partnerships to increase cultural tourism and community engagement by producing unique arts initiatives that foster audience, artist and economic opportunities. WAC produces dynamic events year-round while operating Millennium Place, Whistler’s home for arts and culture featuring a 250-seat theatre, gallery and meeting space.

Media Contact
Magda Kwaterska
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Whistler Arts Council
604.935.8236
mkwaterska@artswhistler.com

This small group of artists, which includes Andrea Mueller, Christina Nick and Stan Matwychuk on their board of directors, is interested in seeing the former site of the Hostelling International Hostel, which was recently taken over by the Resort Municipality of Whistler, transformed into an artist-run centre, which would act as a cultural and artistic hub for the community.

“Whistler doesn’t have a lot of grassroots space,” Massey pointed out.

There was a time when the five-day movie bash in the mountains had to make do with leftovers that didn’t make the cut at the earlier fall festivals.

This year, the festival opens Dec. 1 with Daydream Nation, a black-comic small-town story filmed in Fort Langley starring Kat Dennings, Andie MacDowell and Josh Lucas, and written and directed by Toronto’s Michael Goldbach, who is heading to Whistler.

This was the first year for the Cultural Tourism Award and the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre was listed as a finalist along with Cape Breton’s Celtic Colours International Festival and Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre of the Arts.On the evening of November 2, 2010 in Gatineau Quebec, the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC) received the National Cultural Tourism Award. The award was one of 14 Tourism Excellence awards given out by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) and presented by the Toronto Star to recognize the best of Canada’s Tourism Industry.

Organizers received positive feedback from participants who were pleased with the intimacy of the festival, the calibre of the guest authors, the variety of the sessions offered for writers and readers, the practical nature of the workshops provided, and the organization of the events. Even the guest authors seemed impressed.

The Village’s recently completed cultural scan, which outlined the artistic, cultural and historic assets in Pemberton, Area C and the Lil’wat Nation, was the first phase for a cultural strategy for Pemberton. Creating a cultural plan informed by that work is the next step.

“Phase Two of the strategy is the cultural plan which considers all the assets that were identified in the scan and helps us understand where and why these are located where they are, potential linkages to other organizations and the Village, (and) help us identify what is unique about Pemberton’s culture,” Village of Pemberton Communications Co-ordinator Jill Brooksbank wrote in an email to The Question.

“The plan will also establish municipal policies (i.e. public art policy) related to arts and culture, and will provide another lens for planning and decision making.”

In fact, the Question’s contributions have been so great that the Whistler Arts Council and Whistler Chamber of Commerce have decided to recognize the company’s efforts with the seventh annual Whistler Business and the Arts Award, which honours a local business or individual business leader for making a significant impact on Whistler’s arts and cultural community.

Doti Niedermayer is the executive director of Whistler Arts Council, which took over the management of MY Place in June. She explained that during the Olympics, when MY Place served as Whistler Media House, Ticketmaster wasn’t allowed to have a presence in the building. After the Games, WAC and MY Place decided not to renew their contract with Ticketmaster because it was labour intensive and actually costing them money to sell tickets to outside events.

“It was very, very time consuming to be a Ticketmaster outlet, and that was not covered by Ticketmaster,” Niedermayer explained. “So, for example, if the staff here were selling tickets to AC/DC or Pearl Jam, the time it took to sell that ticket, or those 30 tickets or 150 tickets, was never covered by Ticketmaster.”

Doti Niedermayer, executive director of the Whistler Arts Council (WAC), envisions the new site opening up a “whole new world of possibility” in terms of bringing local artists and artisans into the village. And without adding significantly to WAC’s already stretched operating budget.

“I’ve seen the design go through some changes and some various additions,” Niedermayer said. “I’ve kind of had an idea of what we’d want to use it for, and also what the arts community would want to use it for. For us, that’s always been really exciting because given that it would be a space that is run by the municipality, we would be able to implement things like a Thursday night farmers market or craft fair.”

The rebrand comes before the completion of a major $14.7 million three-phase redevelopment project, transforming a mining legacy site into a vibrant internationally recognized destination. Soon to be completed in September 2010, the new museum will celebrate the contribution of minerals to society, the history of the storied community and the ideas and practices of renewal and sustainability. It promotes mining awareness through fun educational programs, historic collection preservation and insightful exhibits that enables guests to leave with a better understanding of mining in BC; past, present, and future.

True to form, the ninth annual festival lineup includes interesting workshops, innovative events and a roster of heavy-hitting authors. Highlights include Kate Pullinger, 2009 Governor General’s Award-winning novelist, and a performance by spoken word/beatbox artist C.R. Avery.

But even though the fest will go on in October, the struggles aren’t over for the Whistler Writers Group, the local group of volunteers that organizes the annual event.

Stella Harvey, writers group founder and festival director, said she found out about two weeks ago that a grant she was counting on isn’t coming — after planning the bulk of the festival and booking many authors. The B.C. Arts Council has helped fund the festival for five years running, but not this year because of an overall cut in available funding, she said.

“I’ve inherited a very healthy arts council — I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the hard work that Joan Richoz and (Executive Director) Doti (Niedermayer) did,” Pitman said. “I’ve got big shoes to fill. We just want to make sure that we exceed the expectations of the community.”

Pitman said she hopes to grow WAC’s membership and patron programs, as well as increase the visibility of the arts council.

“So much goes on in Whistler that a lot of people don’t know Whistler’s arts council is backing. I want a better awareness,” she said.

“I would like to see arts and culture expanded a little. It’d be really wonderful if the weekenders could join our patrons program; we do so much that the weekenders see and participate in, and we would like to have their support.”

When asked if she anticipates any new events, Pitman replied that she is currently planning a celebration of Whistler’s history, to be held in November.

During the entire month of August, Squamish shows off that vibrant and unique arts and culture scene with a series of gallery showings, festivals, demos, workshops and more as one of 70 communities on the ninth annual BC Cultural Crawl.

“This is an event that’s been created by an organization that puts out a guide listing arts and culture venues and activities,” said Krisztina Egyed, Chair of the Squamish Arts Council. “The BC Cultural Crawl is an online program featuring self-guided arts and culture tours through the whole province.”

For the month-long cultural crawl, Squamish’s itinerary is full of various events, art shows and special presentations for culture connoisseurs.

“I always thought that there would be a magic number that we could sustain ourselves at without having to go for grants. Even at 150 people or whatever, you still don’t have the money that it takes (to cover the costs),” festival founder, Stella Harvey, said in an interview Monday.

But shortly after announcing the cancellation, Harvey started receiving e-mails from disappointed members of the local literary community, many of whom were asking what they could do to save the festival.

Next Friday (Aug. 6), the community is invited to come out and discover some of these often-overlooked artists and venues, as the Whistler Arts Council hosts its second annual ArtWalk Function Block Party.